Speaker Bio
Mylène Paquette is the first person from the American continents to row solo across the North Atlantic, a conquest distinguished from any other modern adventure by its uniqueness, its values and its influence. In November 2013 this modern-day heroine, set out on a journey which would put her alongside the men and women who achieved what few in the world could and what most considered impossible: one hundred and twenty-nine days, alone, rowing across waters many navigators dread the North Atlantic. A human adventure that goes far beyond sporting feats! Its challenges; 29 low-pressure systems, 9 storms, 2 oura-gans, 10 capsizes and 12-metre waves in 129 days and over 5,000 km. Although alone, it was strewn with unique encounters; Marine mammals, sharks, thousands of bioluminescent phytoplankton, a 6,300-passenger liner that came to cheer her on in the middle of the ocean, and many other extraordinary human encounters!
During her keynote presentation, Mylène shows participants how to interpret changes and pitfalls in a positive way. She invites her audience to react to various challenges with initiative and creativity! Drawing from her extraordinary journey, Mylène makes relevant analogies between the challenges she faced during her incredible expedition and those encountered in a professional setting, particularly the hardships caused by the current crisis.
With more than 10 years of collaboration with organizations and listening to the realities and challenges of teams, Mylène also offers a training journey in 6 workshops about change management, emotion management, team interdependence, creativity and innovation.
Speaker Topics
Mylène breaks the ice; she introduces herself and talks about her dream of rowing across the ocean.
Mylène speaks of the technical challenges to build up a feeling of confidence from the start.
The strain she felt while laying the groundwork.
The actual crossing only represents 7% of the whole project.
Weighing the risks involved and choosing the lesser risk.
The importance of looking for blind spots and what can be learned from failure.
Some skills can only be developed in failure or adversity.
Repeating the successful recipe is not enough. In addition, we need to prevent the unsuccessful story from happening; to do so, we need to be honest about dangers and know them better.
The message that was understood by clients was: “We now take a fresh look at our expectations and at the challenges before we even start a project!”
Mylène shares her greatest disappointment: not moving forward despite her efforts.
A 45-day countercurrent: adapt to the obstacle and regroup.
The encouraging words “Don’t give up” and their valuable meaning, words that are often somewhat overused.
Focus on your emotional and mental state so that you can let go of what you can’t control.
Do some soul-searching to stay motivated every day. “How do I want to feel today”
Put things back into perspective and set expectations aside to do things right every day.
The message that was understood by clients was: “Attitude is the key! THIS is THE ONE thing you control, the only thing you can change at any time of the day, even if you’re not going anywhere!”
Mylène shares her biggest events: Hurricane Humberto and the Queen Mary 2!
She describes the emotions she experienced when her boat capsized at the height of the storm.
Which feeling do we want to nurture when hearing the forecast of a hurricane: fear or joy?
What is our mental state when facing adversity? What adjustments need to be made?
What can we do to feel safe when facing massives changes?
When the goal is clear, the team knows what to do.
In the face of the most daunting situation, always look at the benefits. Humor may thrive the rest!
The message that was understood by clients was: “I had never heard of ergonomics for the mind, and it is as important as ergonomics for the body! My perception of myself in the face of difficulties has just changed completely!”
Mylène talks about her fear of water and how diving to careen the boat was such a challenge.
She shares how she learned to deal with her greatest fear: water.
Anxiety: the fruit of negative creativity.
Recognizing fear and honouring it allows us to focus on solutions.
The importance of knowing when and how to ask for help.
Real and imaginary stress have an equal impact on us.
The message that was understood by clients was: “If we don’t face our fears, we end up tripping over ourselves! Recognizing our fears can lead us very far!”
Mylène talks about her biggest mistakes made at the end of the journey.
She shares her thoughts about our worst enemy: ourselves!
Blind spots are hazardous and must be closely monitored.
The most dangerous beast is our own ego!
Recognize when we take some aspects of a situation for granted.
As we approach the end, we let our guard down and lose focus.
The message that was understood by clients was: “I had never realized how much my ego could be problematic and dangerous. Listening to you has made me realize how much I need to take care of myself first and foremost.”
Testimonials
Have you attended Mylène Paquette’s talk? I have. And I can say that, in addition to being captivated by her absolutely incredible journey, I was deeply charmed by the authenticity and strength of this inspiring woman. I recommend everyone go hear Mylène speak. You will learn a lot of life lessons, even if you don’t intend to cross the ocean alone in a rowboat! Bravo, Mylène!
I had the pleasure of serving as honorary president of the Nature-Québec fundraising campaign during which Mylène gave a talk. I was thrilled to listen to her generously share her experience. Mylène is an energetic and articulate communicator. She knows how to balance ancedotes, her history and what she has learned along the way. She prompts a very inspiring and legitimate philosophical discussion. A moving encounter.
I recommended that Mylène give a talk at my office, and she did not disappoint! Aside from being an excellent communicator, she can tailor her content to reflect issues the company wants to focus on. Many people were skeptical as they had attended similar talks in the past, but they were very pleasantly surprised to see how Mylène adapts her content so it is relevant to everyone in the company, people at every level, all the way up to senior management.
I’ve attended many talks over the years and never have I felt so many different emotions over the course of a single event. Thanks to Mylène’s gift for storytelling, she took our whole group along with her on her adventure to relive intense, nail-biting moments as she made history on the Atlantic. She communicates with candour and humour, connecting her experiences with our own reality and providing lessons that reach beyond the professional setting. Simply brilliant!
I had the great privilege of having Mylène as a speaker and spending some time with her. Her adventure shows us the importance of collaboration, of how important it is to presevere despite the obstacles we face. She also explains how she overcame the many obstacles she had to contend with. Beyond the conference, Mylène is a caring, engaging, and extremely humble person. Simply WOW! #Attitude
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